Knicks prevail in ugly game against Lakers

NEW YORK – Carmelo Anthony hears those voices saying he’s getting old, that he can’t jump like he once did.

Hard not to, since some of them are coming from right in his locker room.

Anthony answered in his own way Sunday, scoring 18 of his 31 points in the third quarter as the New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 92-80.

He stared back toward his own bench in the second quarter after rising high to slam down a lob pass from Jason Smith, revealing that his teammates were teasing the 30-year-old forward recently after seeing him dunk.

“They said they haven’t seen that before in a long time,” Anthony said, “and we had this conversation before the game today, so it was just one of those moments where I had to look at the bench and let them know that I’ve still got it.”

With Kobe Bryant out for the season and both teams among the worst in the NBA, it was anything but a Super Sunday in New York, where the national TV audience that was originally scheduled to see it missed the Lakers shooting 35.5 percent from the field.

Anthony stood out above the ugliness, turning mostly to his jumper in the third quarter to help New York pull away. He shot 13 of 25 and grabbed eight rebounds.

Langston Galloway added 13 points for the Knicks, who have won five of seven.

Heat 83, Celtics 73

In Boston, Hassan Whiteside scored half of his 20 points during a dominant stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters.

“He (coach Erik Spoelstra) drew up a play and I scored on it, he just kept drawing them up,” said Whiteside, who went 10-for-17 from the field. “I really think he started believing I can make plays down there.”